Saudi Arabia, the world’s top crude exporter, said Wednesday that attacks on two of its tankers and a major oil pipeline had targeted the security of global crude supplies. Its close ally, the UAE, said it was “committed to de-escalation” after the spike in Gulf tensions, but warned it would retaliate hard against Yemen rebel attacks on civilian facilities in the region. Drone attacks claimed by Iran-aligned Huthi rebels in Yemen shut down one of the kingdom’s main oil pipelines on Tuesday, two days after the mysterious sabotage of four ships, two of them Saudi tankers, off the UAE.
